Mar 17, 2010 - PepsiCo on Tuesday announced plans to volun- tarily remove high-calorie sweetened drinks from schools for
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Re-emergence at Augusta: Four-time Masters champion Tiger Woods, absent from the PGA Tour since Ben Sheets and Kevin Millwood are among start- a November car crash shed light on his troubled personal life, will return at The Masters on April 8. ers posting dismal numbers in spring games. 1C. uMets look to rebound from poor season. 4C. Few celebrities have suffered a swifter fall than Woods, the world’s first billion-dollar athmLife: ‘The Rock’ back in action mode lete and a dominant sports star before ThanksActor Dwayne Johnson, a Disney leading role begiving, the butt of jokes in the weeks since his hind him, returns to roughing it up on screen. 1D. mysterious car crash and admission of extraBy Michael McCarthy and Steve DiMeglio marital affairs. USA TODAY Woods will face many unknowns when he steps on the first tee at Augusta — a private, seNow at USA TODAY.com One of the most eagerly awaited comebacks cluded layout in Georgia known for its tight in sports history is set: Golf icon Tiger Woods control over fans and news media — because of USA TODAY’s website keeps you will return from his self-imposed exile April 8 at the changed dynamic in his public persona, his The Masters, the season’s first major champi- references to ongoing therapy and his decision current 24/7. Check now for: onship and the biggest event of the to come back at perhaps the most presUSA’s golf season. sure-packed, highest-rated event in golf. Woods’ re-emergence will be a perOne thing is certain: ESPN and CBS, fect storm at the intersection of sports, which broadcast the tournament, stand pop culture and Magnolia Lane, the mato gain through enormous ratings. John jestic driveway at Augusta National Golf Wildhack, ESPN executive vice presiClub, which hosts The Masters. For the PGA dent, said in a statement Tuesday that it “will mFollow the NCAA Tour, TV networks (in this case, ESPN and CBS) surely be one of the biggest stories the sporting Latest news, Stephen Curry’s picks at and advertisers, the return of golf’s leading world has seen.” campusrivalry.usatoday.com moneymaker — and wealth creator — will be a With so many eyes on him, it will be inwelcome if somewhat uncomfortable sign that teresting to see how Woods — who always has Get a free fourthe sport might be moving back toward the tried to maintain tight control over information week trial of our days when what happened on the course gendigital replica e-Edition, e-mailed to you complete Please see COVER STORY next page u erated the most headlines. every morning, at usatodaysubscribe.com/usa422.
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Pepsi is dropping out of schools
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It won’t sell sugary drinks to children abroad by 2012 By Bruce Horovitz USA TODAY
ation to Pepsi? By doubling our consumption?” Well, that would help. While global carbonated soft-drink consumption was up about 1% in 2008 — the most recent year tracked — it was down 3% in the U.S., reports Beverage Digest. Pepsi received some compliments on its move — including one from a longtime adversary. “We applaud Pepsi for its global commitment,” says Bruce Silverglade, legal affairs director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “But shame on Coca-Cola for insisting on targeting high school students in most countries around the world.” Coke announced this month it won’t sell sugared drinks in primary schools worldwide unless asked, but it is not matching Pepsi’s move for high schools. “We believe school authorities should have the right to choose what is best for their schools,” says spokeswoman Crystal Warwell Walker. Coke’s global share of carbonated soft-drink sales is 50.5% vs. Pepsi’s 22.2%, says Beverage Digest. Pepsi said it did not have exact numbers for school sales, but said it’s not a major part of global sales. John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, says Pepsi’s move is smart. “It’s the old adage: They want to do well by doing good.”
The iPod Generation will get a global lesson in healthier beverages from an unlikely source: Pepsi. PepsiCo on Tuesday announced plans to voluntarily remove high-calorie sweetened drinks from schools for kids up to age 18 in more than 200 countries by 2012. Coke and Pepsi agreed to stop selling sugary drinks in U.S. schools in 2006. Pepsi is responding to demands from activists that food and beverage companies not offer kids products linked to childhood obesity. The action came on the day that Michelle Obama stood before an annual conference of the world’s largest food companies and urged them to “entirely rethink” the products they market to kids. Branding expert Jonathan Salem Baskin is skeptical of Pepsi’s motives. “Coke taught the world to sing. Pepsi is going to teach the world to diet?” He suspects not: “My heart and soul want me to believe this is a statement of principle. . . . So how are we (Americans) supposed to show our appreci- Contributing: The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The military is trying to curb the volume of narcotics given to troops as the number of prescriptions for painkillers and instances of drug abuse continue to soar, according to Pentagon data and recent congressional testimony. Military doctors wrote almost 3.8 million prescriptions for pain relief for servicemembers last year — more than four times the 866,773 doses handed out in 2001, according to data from the Pentagon health office. “These are stunning statistics,” says Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who intends to look into the issue next week during a Senate subcommittee hearing that he will chair. Surgeons general of the Army, Navy and Air Force will testify. “I would really like to dig down in the data here and get their thoughts about what is driving Painkiller this.” use increases Military officials and Number of prescripanalysts say the increase tions that military in the use of narcotic pain doctors wrote for medication reflects the painkillers: continuing toll on ground (in millions) troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, often 3.0 3.8 through more than one combat deployment. In 3.0 2.0 addition to those who are wounded, larger num1.0 bers of soldiers and Marines develop aches and 0 strains carrying heavy ’05 ’09 packs, body armor and Source: Defense Department weapons over rugged and By Julie Snider, USA TODAY mountainous terrain. “Clearly the stress on the force, because of these continuous deployments, is a component (in the increasing of prescriptions),” says Webb, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War. The Army, which has done most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, is examining how it gives pain-relief pills to its soldiers, says Assistant Army Secretary Thomas Lamont. A multiservice task force will outline how to limit prescription-medication use and ensure that Army hospitals all use the same procedure for dispending medicine, he says. “Our soldiers are coming back (from combat) wounded, sore, injured, in need of rehab,” Lamont told a Senate subcommittee last week. “We found every Army medical center was dealing with pain in altogether different ways, all individual . . . but not an Army-wide program at all,” Lamont says. “There was no consistency.” One in four soldiers admitted abusing prescribed drugs, mostly pain relievers, in the 12 months prior to a Pentagon survey in 2008, according to the results released this year. Fifteen percent said they had abused drugs in the 30 days before the survey. “I think what we don’t understand . . . is what the motivation is,” says Jack Smith, head of the clinical and program policy for the Pentagon’s Health Affairs office. More study is needed to understand why and how troops are abusing prescription medications, he says. Pentagon records show the abuse of prescription drugs is higher in the military than among civilians. Five percent of civilians reported abusing prescription drugs in a 30-day period in 2007, compared with 11% of military personnel surveyed in 2008. “The No. 1 thing we have to be focusing on here is the long-term well-being” of the troops, Webb says. “They have no options in terms of deciding when, and how long, and how repeatedly they’re deployed. And so it’s up to the top (military) leadership and us over here (in Congress) to make sure we’re taking care of their well-being.”
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